Football and racism
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Sara Ahmed explains in her text the recurrent idea in the U.K. that playing football can be a part of the road to integration and happiness. She cites Trevor Philips, who recommends playing football to connect with people of “different ethnicities” a few hours a week (p.122). No interaction is seen as the problem for the lack of happiness in multiculturalism. Football is perceived as common ground, and the fantasy is that it transcends identity and ethnicity. In Bend It like Beckham, Jess is the ideal daughter of immigrants in England because she wants to be a part of the English game. It is represented as the only place where she can be happy. Her inclusion in the beautiful game fuels the national fantasy of football transcending identity. However, in reality, racialized people in football face racism and fight for their inclusion in the game. For example, England lost the final in the men’s euros 2021 in the penalty shootout. The English players who missed their penalty kick happened to be all Black men. They faced a massive wave of violence and racism because of it. Football only transcends ethnicities when England wins.
In Bend It Like Beckham, Jess’s coach tells her to let go of racism to be happy. He even says he understands what she experiences because he’s Irish. I jumped out of my seat when I heard him say that. It is incredibly ignorant and racist to think that the discrimination that a white Irish man may face is the same as the one a Brown Indian girl faces. Instead of addressing heads on the problem of racism in England, the movie explains that we all suffer and we have to let go of it to be happy: “whether racism hurts depends upon individual choice and capacity” (p.144). It is a way to avoid the subject and pretend it’s racialized people’s fault.